


Word of the Day

by SashinaLash



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 1dpromptchallenges, Drabble, M/M, Poetry, Wordcount: 100
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-25 07:28:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20372983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SashinaLash/pseuds/SashinaLash
Summary: A collection of tiny stories written in response to1dpromptchallengeson Tumblr.Word of the day:Persnickety.This was originally prompted by the ‘put your music on random’ prompt, but works nicely here too. The song wasSlash N’ Burnby the Manic Street Preachers.





	1. Persnickety

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for the get-writing kicks, [13ways](/users/13ways). 
> 
> I'm [SashinaLash](https://sashinalash.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.

That’s more like it, Louis thinks. His throat burns. Like, literally burns. Strepsils and vodka. His arms are aching. Too much to lift anything. Harry’s legs, draped over Louis’ left arm. Heavy. He’s definitely asleep. Louis can’t swallow. He tries to jiggle the fingers of his right hand. He brings his middle finger to his thumb. _Oh_. Dry / sticky. Oh. He hasn’t opened his eyes yet. He’s content to imagine the view. 

Seven thoughts compete for his attention. Louis’ head is at the foot of the bed; the pillow on the floor. Harry’s ring finger, lip balm, Louis’ lips. Ridiculous: Louis actually telling Harry to _stop everything_ (how many times?) while he skipped seemingly every second song on that preposterous playlist of Harry’s. Did he really? (Did Harry really call him _persnickety_?) Harry had grown his fingernails just long enough, this time. Oh shit, you know what that thought does to Louis (thought #4a, he thinks. Doesn’t deserve its own number.) Louis genuinely doesn’t know what day it is. Harry’s left foot twitches: Louis can’t decide if it’s too close or too far from his own face. Harry, a baby, can _still_ sleep anywhere.


	2. Senescence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of tiny stories written in response to [1dpromptchallenges](https://1dpromptchallenges.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.
> 
> Word of the day: [Senescence](https://sashinalash.tumblr.com/post/186796078691/word-of-the-day-senescence-si-%CB%88ne-s%E1%B5%8Ants-part).
> 
> _Frequently, Louis Tomlinson hates Harry Styles._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm [SashinaLash](https://sashinalash.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.

Louis cannot believe what he is seeing. Although, to be fair, he really should expect this kind of shit. It has been almost nine years, after all. 

Nine years of humiliation. Of showing off. Of gleeful hand-rubbing. Of that goddamn smirk. (The fans love that, but it is rarely at _their_ expense.) No wonder Louis really can’t be doing with this anymore. It’s doing nothing for his self-esteem. And in what way exactly is it enhancing their relationship? He has no idea. Louis really needs to put a stop to it.

SENESCENCE. Across two triple word scores. 90 points.

Bastard.


	3. Scintillate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of tiny stories written in response to [1dpromptchallenges](https://1dpromptchallenges.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.
> 
> Word of the day: [Scintillate](https://sashinalash.tumblr.com/post/186936734756/word-of-the-day-scintillate-sin-t%C9%99-%CB%8Cl%C4%81t-part-of).
> 
> 100 words about sparkles, helped along by _**Turn**_ by **The Wombats**:
> 
> _I like the way your brain works, I like the way you try_   
_To run with the wolf pack when your legs are tied_   
_I like the way you turn me inside and out_
> 
> For [Anna](https://annalarrie.tumblr.com/archive).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm [SashinaLash](https://sashinalash.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.

Harry picks crisps from a bowl in the dressing room, swivelling on his boot to glance at the doorway. The soundcheck has just started; Louis will be a while.

He thumbs the coathangers on the clothes rack, clicking through jumpers, jeans, shirts, three suits. Reds, blacks, whites, royal blues. 

Harry knows that Louis doesn’t need the glitter. He doesn’t need a sparkly blouse, nor pussy bow and frilled cuffs. He doesn’t need a suit stiff with sequins. And Louis’ shoes are fine as is.

No. Wherever, however, Harry knows that Louis needs no pyrotechny; he scintillates just as he is.


	4. Natation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of tiny stories written in response to [1dpromptchallenges](https://1dpromptchallenges.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.
> 
> Word of the day: [Natation](https://sashinalash.tumblr.com/post/186960324251/word-of-the-day-natation-n%C4%81-%CB%88t%C4%81-sh%C9%99n-part-of).
> 
> I’ve had [Art School Girlfriend](https://open.spotify.com/artist/3rtvvt1kuQ4luEWq8epaHD?si=ZsYgnwOnRyWhRn0oAco84g) on high rotation recently. From _**Diving:**_
> 
> _I can float when I have the time / When did I get so serious?_   
_Dark diving when I'm not there / You tell me something, look my way_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm [SashinaLash](https://sashinalash.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.

Harry’s supine, half-wet, eyes closed, cool water lapping against his ears.

That’s how he prefers it now: remaining on the surface. Natation; a fancy word for floating. Exposed, yes, but aware. 

There’s a weightlessness that buoys him, literally. He’s sloughed off so, so much; even his muscles feel massless. It’s easy and pleasant: afloat, disengaged, in his own head.

He’s tethered though, by a new melody demanding rehearsal in his head.

_Do you want me? / Does she want me  
When did I get so serious?_

He can’t know any more; it’s better that way.

Tilting left a little, he dips the mermaid fully under just momentarily and cannot help but smile. She likes that.


	5. Apoplectic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of tiny stories written in response to [1dpromptchallenges](https://1dpromptchallenges.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.
> 
> Word of the day: [Apoplectic](https://sashinalash.tumblr.com/post/187029885706/word-of-the-day-apoplectic-a-p%C9%99-%CB%88plek-tik-part).
> 
> Hüsker Dü made some of the angriest, most beautiful music I know. And in the ‘80s. You want to let it out? Stick on _[Candy Apple Grey](https://open.spotify.com/album/6zoU9wwvh8ETkMsWU3Mtv1?si=IU6zZNCkTCOT1_hjcJ0frA)_, LOUD, and let it out.
> 
> _I don't have to think about you, think about the past_   
_Those days stand out in my mind and those days were the last_   
_I know the time is coming and I'm waiting for the day_   
_I'd give you everything in the world just to get it out of the way_   
_You're making me sorry / Sorry somehow_   
****   
_\- Sorry Somehow_   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm [SashinaLash](https://sashinalash.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.

They had no audience. That’s how Louis felt: Vans on his feet, mike in his hand, beat in his ears, melody in his lungs, the crowd _everywhere_.

But tonight, backstage words. Louis doesn’t acknowledge his name. It hurts. But mostly, he’s angry. No, he’s apo-fucking-plectic. Louis feels it _everywhere_: his fingertips, his shoulderblades, his gut. He jumps and kicks; tries to shake it out. Screams during _No Control_. Even those words – his own – are inadequate.

But then, soft, soft relief. Harry enters his orbit. Harry’s notes are his notes; their breathe shared. Louis’ ship is becalmed.

There is no audience.


	6. Raconteur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of tiny stories written in response to [1dpromptchallenges](https://1dpromptchallenges.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.
> 
> Word of the day: [Raconteur](https://sashinalash.tumblr.com/post/187073987801/word-of-the-day-raconteur-ra-%CB%8Ck%C3%A4n-%CB%88t%C9%99r-part-of).
> 
> 100 words inspired by [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f18X-lg_TXA), for example.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm [SashinaLash](https://sashinalash.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.

Louis is not sure how many times he’s done it, but he knows it’s a few. It rolls off his tongue still, so easily, even after all these years. Sounds natural. A stock story of a seasoned raconteur. A crowd-pleaser. Proof of Louis Tomlinson as the ultimate romantic, and domesticated, to boot. 

It’s quite preposterous that it has served him so very well, for so long, even if he has been reduced to performing the accompanying hand motions alone these days. He imagines re-telling it long into the future.

_Chicken stuffed with mozzarella, wrapped in parma ham, with homemade mash._


	7. Nascent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of tiny stories written in response to [1dpromptchallenges](https://1dpromptchallenges.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.
> 
> Word of the day: [Nascent](https://sashinalash.tumblr.com/post/187129246081/word-of-the-day-nascent-na-s%E1%B5%8Ant-part-of-speech).
> 
> _Harry and Louis 2010_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm [SashinaLash](https://sashinalash.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.

This nascent thing. 

The first inky brushstroke on a stiff blank artboard, or maybe even the twentieth, before any proper form is revealed.

Or fledgling feelings of two boys: three knuckles swept lightly against a smooth upper arm, or a left knee skewed against a right one. Two shoes touching at the toes. Flustered giggles and flushed cheeks. Masked kisses. Giddy and impatient and lacking grace, yet unaccountably and inexplicably sure as they could conceivably be.

And a certainty that the brushstrokes would eventually become what they were always going to become: confident shapes, a detailed tableau, a lacquered artwork.


	8. Halcyon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of tiny stories written in response to [1dpromptchallenges](https://1dpromptchallenges.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.
> 
> Word of the day: [Halcyon](https://sashinalash.tumblr.com/post/187218051626/word-of-the-day-halcyon-hal-s%C4%93-%C9%99n-part-of).
> 
> Written in response to [ this beautiful 100-word poem](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20218966/chapters/48292555) by [13ways](/users/13ways/).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm [SashinaLash](https://sashinalash.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.

**From rbb: whispering though the dark**

Things which continue:  
Incoming texts  
The soft buzz of communication  
_Alive!_  
(Reminders for events we never attend  
Text messages - hellos, iheartyous, just checkings  
all of that)  
Everything on mute though

We stick together; we’re stuck together  
Watching suitcases being packed on the bed  
You hate cleaning day, the vacuum cleaner  
Meanwhile, we’re ready for the wash

In theory, all rainbows are double rainbows  
But we’re the real deal  
and you’ve always been the primary arc

Through the dark, I feel your softness  
Your infinite patience, your breathing  
And love. So much love in our quiet hearts  
Through the dark  
•


End file.
